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Family Medicine

A Message About Our Program

The St. John’s Episcopal Hospital Family Medicine Residency Program is a three-year, ACGME-accredited training program aimed at developing competent, autonomous physicians that can practice in any facet of Family Medicine. Our program combines academics and education with hands-on, direct patient care. We are committed to providing the best possible educational experience for our residents, while providing a warm and supportive educational environment. Our program provides access to quality health care for our community with compassion and respect for all.

Our program fosters an environment conducive to education and excellent patient care so that each person excels in medical knowledge, clinical practice, professionalism, commitment to life-long learning, and leadership in their communities.

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Our Program Team

Richard Steward, III, DO, FAAFP, DiplABLM

Family Medicine Program Director

Tessy Peter, MD, FCCP

Family Medicine Department Chairperson

Letora Washington, DO, FAAFP, DipABLM

Family Medicine Associate Program Director

Valeriya Yevshayeva, MD

Family Medicine Associate Program Director

Kevin Bedard, Ed.D

Program Coordinator
Email: kbedard@ehs.org

Program Highlights:

ACGME Accreditation

Our Family Medicine Residency Program has been ACGME Accredited since 2018.

Board Pass Rate

Our program pass rate for American Board of Family Medicine is 100%.

Diverse Patient Population

Our community includes a wide variety of ethnic and cultural backgrounds along with various medical conditions/pathologies.

Didactics

Our program offers didactics that focus on many specialty and subspecialty areas. Didactics include: Journal Club, board review sessions, specialty-specific lectures provided by residents and attendings, training sessions for procedures provided by device representatives, and insights on new medications and updated indications for drug utilization provided by pharmaceutical company representatives. Didactics are usually held on Tuesdays and Thursdays. We also have monthly OMM Grand Rounds.

Curriculum

Post Graduate Year 1
  • Family Medicine Practice (4 weeks)
  • Half day of outpatient Family Medicine weekly throughout the year
  • Inpatient Medicine (16 weeks)
    • 2 months will involve a 2-week night float assignment
  • General Surgery (4 weeks)
  • Obstetrics/Gynecology (4 weeks)
  • Outpatient Pediatrics (4 weeks)
  • Emergency Medicine (4 weeks)
  • Sports Medicine (2 weeks)
  • Critical Care Elective (4 weeks)
    • Choice between ICU, CCU, cardiology, or pulmonology
  • Medical Elective (4 weeks)
  • Dermatology (2 weeks)
  • Ophthalmology (2 weeks – can occur in 1st or 2nd year)
  • Vacation (4 weeks)
  • Interns will be required to do 24-hour calls within their first year of residency
Post Graduate Year 2
  • Outpatient Family Medicine (6 weeks)
  • One and a half days of Ambulatory Medicine weekly throughout the year
  • Year long continuity care at Nursing Home
  • Inpatient Medicine (12 weeks)
  • Outpatient Pediatrics (2 weeks)
  • Inpatient Pediatrics (4 weeks)
  • Obstetrics/Gynecology (4 weeks)
  • Emergency Medicine (4 weeks)
  • Integrative Medicine (4 weeks)
  • Palliative Care (4 weeks)
  • Elective (4 weeks)
  • Sports Medicine (4 weeks)
  • Vacation (4 weeks)
Post Graduate Year 3
  • Outpatient Family Medicine (12 weeks)
  • One and a half days of Ambulatory Medicine weekly throughout the year
  • Year long continuity care at Nursing Home
  • Inpatient Medicine (8 weeks)
    • 4 weeks of which you will be “Chief of Services”, where you’ll be responsible for managing the full inpatient medical team
  • Obstetrics/Gynecology (4 weeks)
  • Outpatient Pediatrics (4 weeks)
  • Emergency Medicine (2 weeks)
  • Population Health (2 weeks)
  • Electives (16 weeks)
  • Vacation (4 weeks)

Electives

Medical Electives
  • Cardiology
  • Dermatology
  • Endocrinology
  • Gastroenterology
  • Hematology
  • Infectious Disease
  • Integrative Medicine
  • Nephrology
  • Neurology
  • Oncology
  • Palliative Care
  • Pulmonology
Surgical Electives
  • Anesthesia
  • ENT
  • Ophthalmology
  • Orthopedics
  • Urology

On-Call Schedule

PGY1

  • No 24-hour Inpatient Medicine calls
  • 1 24-hour OB/GYN call each month
  • 6-8 24-hour General Surgery calls each month

PGY2

  • 3-5 24-hour Inpatient Medicine calls each month

PGY3

  • 2-3 24-hour Inpatient Medicine calls each month

Off-Site Locations

Outpatient Family Medicine

  • 495 Beach 20th Street, Far Rockaway, NY 11691 (across the street from the Hospital)
  • 105-38 Rockaway Beach Boulevard, 2nd Floor, Rockaway Park, NY 11694

Sports Medicine

  • 214 East Sunrise Highway, Valley Stream, NY 11580

Orthopedic Medicine

  • 70 Lord Avenue, Inwood, NY 11096

Gynecology Procedure Clinic and Breast Surgery

  • 105-38 Rockaway Beach Boulevard, 3rd Floor, Rockaway Park, NY 11694

Inpatient Pediatrics

  • 1 Healthy Way, Oceanside, NY 11572

Dermatology

  • 11 Irving Place, Woodmere, NY 11598

Benefits

  • Medical Benefits with Blue Cross Blue Shield
  • Vision Benefits with Davis Vision
  • Dental Benefits with Guardian Insurance
  • Other Benefits
  • Vacation: 4 weeks of vacation (paid) each year
  • Sick days: 12 days of sick leave per year
  • Personal days: 4 days of personal leave per year
  • Other leaves offered: Family and medical leave, maternity/paternity leave, marriage leave, disability leave, bereavement leave

Current Residents

Chief Residents

Aida Diouf, DO

Hometown: NYC
Medical School: Touro College of Osteopathic Medicine – Harlem Medical
Interests: Sports Medicine

Suleman Janjua, MD

Hometown: Baltimore, MD
Medical School: Windsor University School of Medicine
Interests: Sports Medicine

Post-Graduate Year 1

Bisi Akindele, MD

Hometown: Ibadan, Nigeria
Medical School: St. George’s University, Grenada
Interests: Primary Care

Navinthiran Anbalagan, MD

Hometown: Malaysia
Medical School: Manipal University, India
Interests: Primary Care, Reproductive Health, Dermatology

Alicia Charles, MD

Hometown: Brooklyn, NY
Medical School: Caribbean Medical University
Interests: Primary Care

Adam Coccia, DO

Hometown: Rochester, NY
Medical School: A.T. Still University School of Osteopathic Medicine
Interests: Addiction Medicine, Behavioral Health, LGBTQ+ Care/Trans-Affirming Medicine

Andres Eduardo Perez Correa, MD

Hometown: San Juan, Puerto Rico
Medical School: Universidad Autónoma de Guadalajara
Interests: Addiction Medicine, LGBTQ/Gay Men’s Health, HIV/AIDS Care

Noha Elzaki, MD

Hometown: Sudan
Medical School: Sinnar University Faculty of Medicine, Sudan
Interests: Primary Care and Women’s Health

Sally Fouda, MD

Hometown: Mansoura, Egypt
Medical School: Mansoura University College of Medicine
Interests: Hospital Medicine, Clinical Procedures, Women’s Health

Alina Luka, DO

Hometown: Fort Lauderdale, FL
Medical School: Alabama College of Osteopathic Medicine
Interests: Preventive Medicine, Primary Care, Sports Medicine

Krishna Rana, DO

Hometown: Wallington, NJ
Medical School: New York Institute of Technology College of Osteopathic Medicine
Interests: Primary Care and Adolescent Medicine

Fabiana Santelises, MD

Hometown: Santiago, Dominican Republic
Medical School: Pontificia Universidad Católica Madre y Maestra
Interests: Primary Care and Endocrinology

Chaithanya Singh, MD

Hometown: Bangalore, India
Medical School: Kempegowda Institute of Medical Sciences
Interests: Primary Care and Pain Medicine

Gursharan Singh, DO

Hometown: Mukhliana, Punjab, India
Medical School: New York Institute of Technology College of Osteopathic Medicine
Interests: Primary Care and Addition Medicine

Adriano Yashar, MD

Hometown: Los Angeles, CA
Medical School: Chicago Medical School at Rosalind Franklin University of Medicine and Science
Interests: Primary Care, Hospital Medicine, Preventative Medicine

Post-Graduate Year 2

Zohaib Ahmed, DO

Hometown: Frisco, TX
Medical School: West Virginia School of Osteopathic Medicine
Interests: Primary Care

Gislaine Bernabe, MD

Hometown: Haiti
Medical School: Caribbean Medical University School of Medicine
Interests: Geriatrics, Integrative Health, and Healthcare Administration

James Chin, DO

Hometown: Branchburg, NJ
Medical School: Touro College of Osteopathic Medicine – Middletown
Interests: Hospitalist Medicine, Sports Medicine

Nisha Desai, MD

Hometown: Fair Lawn, NJ
Medical School: Saint James School of Medicine Anguilla
Interests: Primary Care

Mellessa Keago, MD

Hometown: Guyana
Medical School: Ross University School of Medicine
Interests: Primary Care and Academic Medicine

Madeline Kidd, DO

Hometown: Los Angeles, CA
Medical School: Touro College of Osteopathic Medicine – New York
Interests: Preventive Medicine, Nutrition, Reproductive Medicine, and Endocrinology

Moona Nadeem, DO

Hometown: Westchester, NY
Medical School: Touro College of Osteopathic Medicine – Middletown
Interests: Preventive Medicine, Women’s Health, and Neuromuscular Medicine

Anju Punchamannil, DO

Hometown: Brooklyn, NY
Medical School: New York Institute of Technology College of Osteopathic Medicine
Interests: Women’s Health, Preventive Medicine, and Global Health

Maria Santos Rodriguez, MD

Hometown: Levittown, Puerto Rico
Medical School: Universidad Iberoamericana (UNIBE) School of Medicine, Santo Domingo
Interests: Primary Care and Dermatology

Post-Graduate Year 3

Rehana Alam, DO

Hometown: New York
Medical School: Nova Southeastern College of Osteopathic Medicine
Interests: Primary Care

Rhoda Asimeng, DO

Hometown: Bronx, NY
Medical School: Touro College of Osteopathic Medicine – New York
Interests: Women’s Health

Kian Behmanesh, DO

Hometown: Los Angeles, CA
Medical School: Western University of Health Sciences College of Osteopathic Medicine
Interests: Primary Care, Pain Management, & Mental Health

Diana Koltovski, DO

Hometown: New York, NY
Medical School: New York Institute of Technology College of Osteopathic Medicine
Interests: Primary Care

Lubens Lavaud, DO

Hometown: Freeport, NY
Medical School: New York Institute of Technology College of Osteopathic Medicine
Interests: Primary Care & Sports Medicine

Bharati Nikhare, MD

Hometown: Erie, PA
Medical School: Dr. Vaishampayan Memorial College, India
Interests: Women’s Health & Adolescent Medicine

Samantha Salomon, MD

Hometown: West Orange, NJ
Medical School: St. James School of Medicine
Interests: Primary Care, Sports Medicine

Lamson Vo, DO

Hometown: Orlando, Florida
Medical School: Lake Erie College of Osteopathic Medicine- Bradenton
Interests: Primary Care